Blue carpet: Stars brave the elements as Hollywood elite arrive for BAFTAs

Eddie Redmayne, Benedict Cumberbatch and Rosamund Pike were among the British stars making their way down a very cold red carpet on Sunday evening for the Bafta awards. The home-grown talent was joined by Hollywood counterparts like Julianne Moore (“Still Alice”), Amy Adams (“Big Eyes”) and Reese Witherspoon (“Wild”). All three starlets will be battling Britain’s up-and-coming Felicity Jones, who is nominated for her role as disabled astrophysicist Stephen Hawking’s wife Jane in “The Theory of Everything” and “Gone Girl’s” Rosamund Pike. Professor Stephen Hawking made a surprise appearance at the awards, too.

This is the role of a lifetime. I’ve always loved to tell interesting stories about intriguing people, and they don’t come as incredible as Stephen. I’m just glad we didn’t let him down.

Eddie Redmayne, who is tipped to scoop the best actor gong for playing Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything

The two names to watch for best actor include Cumberbatch, who plays the troubled World War II codebreaker Alan Turing in “The Imitation Game”, and Redmayne, praised for his role as Hawking. The duo are up for best actor against Ralph Fiennes for his role as a concierge in “The Grand Budapest Hotel”, Michael Keaton as an out-of-luck actor in “Birdman” and Jake Gyllenhaal, the shady video paparazzo in the thriller “Nightcrawler”. The movers and shakers in British cinema partied last night in Kensington Palace – the London home of Prince William and his wife Kate. After tonight’s ceremony, and producer Harvey Weinstein will be hosting a big bash.